kaicalls-design — UI that belongs in the KaiCalls admin panel

Objective

UI that a KaiCalls user cannot tell was added later: dark-first, built from design-system tokens and shadcn/ui components, with every interactive element giving feedback the user can feel.

The product target is a Minimum Lovable Product — zero support required (so intuitive nobody opens docs), every click invokes emotion, micro-celebrations reward tedious work, conversational copy and helpful empty states make the software feel like a teammate, and the whole surface reads premium in the register of Linear, Notion, and Stripe.

Two rules pull against each other and both hold: every interactive element gives emotional feedback, and that feedback stays subtle. Our users include older professionals who spend long hours on screen; nothing flashes, strobes, or strains eyes.

Done when

Work type product-ui — floor E5/C4/O3 (harness/eco-floors.yaml).

• E5 — the change is live in the product and a non-actor loaded the real screen at the real breakpoints. A green build and a deploy marked ready are E1 and E4; neither proves the screen renders.

• C4 — the design field standard, verified before ship: hierarchy, WCAG AA contrast and focus order, token compliance over hardcoded values, responsive behavior at actual viewing sizes, and every loading, empty, and error state. Deviations need an explicit expiring waiver. The project's own tests plus this checklist are the C bar:

• Every button has emotional feedback: hover, active, and success states

• Feedback is subtle — no flashing, strobing, or harsh contrast

• Design-system color tokens throughout, no hardcoded hex

• Typography uses semantic classes (heading-*, text-body-*), not ad-hoc sizes

• Loading states use skeletons, not spinners

• Empty states carry helpful copy and a CTA

• Success actions show a micro-celebration (toast, animation, or color change)

• Destructive actions have confirmation plus reassurance afterward

• Animations run at 60fps and stay under 300ms

• prefers-reduced-motion respected via motion-safe / motion-reduce

• Dark-mode compatible — no light-only colors

• Mobile responsive down to 375px

• shadcn/ui components used wherever one exists

• O3 — name the user behavior the change was supposed to move (task completion rate, time to first action, support tickets on that surface, drop-off) with a baseline, threshold, owner, and a 30-day window, recorded before building. A UI change that shipped and moved nothing is SHIPPED, not CLOSED.

Constraints

• Tokens, never hex. Every color comes from the CSS variables or kai-* Tailwind classes below. A hardcoded hex is a defect even when it matches.
• Motion budget is hard. Micro-interactions (toggles, buttons) 120–160ms ease-out · small transitions 200–240ms ease-out · screen transitions 300–400ms cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1). Tokens: --transition-fast: 150ms, --transition-normal: 200ms, --transition-slow: 300ms.
• Forbidden feedback: bright flashes, strobing, high-contrast pops (white on dark), large jarring movement, anything over 300ms, anything that pulls attention off the task. Use soft glows, gentle scale (1.02–1.05x), muted color transitions, and spring physics with high damping.
• Eye comfort: muted success green (#34D399 at ~60% opacity) rather than bright green · soft error red (#FF4B4B with transparency), never pure red · confetti and particles sparse and low-contrast · prefer opacity transitions to color flashes.
• Never ship "No data found." An empty state carries an optional illustration, copy explaining what belongs there, and a CTA that populates it.
• Errors speak plainly. "Something went wrong. We're looking into it. Try refreshing the page." — never a raw status code.
• Destructive actions name their consequences in the confirm dialog (what is deleted, what goes with it, that it cannot be undone), and reassure immediately after.

Context

Need	Load
Complete CSS variable and Tailwind class list	references/full-color-tokens.md
Real-world dashboard, table, and form patterns	references/component-examples.md

Core color tokens

/* Surfaces */          /* Brand */                    /* Text */
--background: #12121A   --kai-blue: #5C8CFF            --foreground: #F7F7FA
--card: #181B23         --kai-purple: #C68BF8          --muted-foreground: #A7A9BE
--secondary: #23263B    --kai-btn-primary: #3575F6     --kai-text-placeholder: #6B6D76
--surface-elevated: #2A2D3E

/* Status */
--kai-success-text: #34D399   --kai-error-text: #FF4B4B
--kai-warning-text: #FFC04B   --kai-info-text: #5C8CFF

Tailwind classes. Surfaces: bg-background (page), bg-card (cards), bg-secondary (inputs and secondary surfaces). Text: text-foreground (primary), text-muted-foreground (secondary), text-kai-blue, text-kai-purple. Borders: border-border, border-kai-table-border.

Typography. Headings heading-xl (2xl bold white, page title) · heading-lg (xl semibold, section) · heading-md (lg semibold, card) · heading-sm (base semibold, subsection). Body text-body-primary (white) · text-body-secondary (slate-400) · text-body-tertiary (slate-500, timestamps). Labels label-uppercase (xs uppercase tracking-wide slate-400) · label-default (sm medium slate-400) · stat-label (xs uppercase slate-400). Values use data-value.

Components. All from @/components/ui/*.

• Card — Card / CardHeader / CardTitle / CardDescription / CardContent. Base: rounded-lg border-slate-700/50 bg-slate-800/60 text-white shadow-sm.
• Button — variants default (primary), secondary, outline, destructive, ghost, link; sizes sm, default, lg, icon.
• Badges — temperature: badge-hot (bg #FF4B4B33, text #FF6B6B), badge-warm (#FFC04B33 / #FFD76B), badge-cold (#4B7BFF33 / #6B93FF). Status: status-success, status-error, status-warning, status-info. All badges: rounded-full px-2.5 py-0.5 font-semibold.
• Tables — table-row hover:bg-kai-hover-row, table-row-selected, cells px-4 py-3, headers text-kai-text-table-heading (#B0B2C3).
• Inputs — Input + Label wrapped in space-y-2. Base bg-secondary border-border text-foreground, focus ring-kai-blue.
• Dialogs — DialogContent className="bg-modal-bg border-modal-border" with DialogHeader / DialogTitle / DialogDescription. Destructive flows use AlertDialog with a keep-it action and a consequence-naming confirm action.
• Elevation — shadow-elevation-sm (subtle), -md (cards), -lg (dropdowns), -xl (modals). Z-index: z-dropdown 50, z-modal 100, z-toast 150.
• Gradient — bg-gradient-kai and text-gradient-kai, both linear-gradient(90deg, #5C8CFF 0%, #C68BF8 100%).
• Animation classes — skeleton-shimmer for loading, collapsible-content and collapsible-chevron for disclosure.

Micro-celebration triggers

Action	Feedback	Implementation
Task complete	Soft checkmark fade-in	Icon opacity 0→1 over 200ms
Form submit	Gentle green tint, quiet toast	Subtle bg shift, no flash
Delete / archive	Smooth slide away	Slide-out 250ms with opacity fade
Toggle on	Soft snap into place	Spring, damping 0.8
Save success	Soft glow around button	Box-shadow fade in/out over 400ms
Error	Gentle wobble + muted red	2–3px horizontal shake, soft red

Hover and focus. Buttons hover:scale-[1.02] hover:brightness-105 transition-all duration-150. Cards hover:shadow-elevation-md hover:-translate-y-0.5 transition-all duration-200. Links hover:text-kai-purple/80 transition-colors duration-150. Reduced motion: motion-safe:hover:scale-[1.02] motion-reduce:hover:opacity-80, or check window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches in JS.

Button states. A success button flips to a Check icon with bg-kai-success-text scale-105 for ~1500ms, then reverts. A loading button is disabled and shows <Loader2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4 animate-spin" /> with an anticipatory label ("Saving...").

Toasts come from sonner, with a title and a description that says what actually happened — toast.success("Agent created!", { description: "Your AI assistant is ready to take calls." }). Milestones may carry an emoji icon. After a destructive action, the toast reassures: "Agent deleted — don't worry, your leads are still safe."

Page layout. A page is space-y-6: a header row (flex items-center justify-between) holding heading-xl plus a text-body-secondary mt-1 description on the left and the primary action button on the right, followed by content in grid gap-6 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3.

Stat card. CardContent className="p-6" containing a flex items-center justify-between row with stat-label and a muted icon, then mt-2 with data-value and a delta in text-kai-success-text text-sm ml-2.

Loading. Skeletons match content shape — a card skeleton mirrors header and body block heights (h-6 w-48, h-4 w-32 mt-2, h-24 w-full); a table skeleton repeats rows of column-width bars.

Escalate when

• The design calls for a color, spacing value, or component that no token or shadcn/ui component covers — the system extends deliberately, not inline.
• Feedback strong enough to be noticed would breach the eye-comfort rules.
• A pattern is needed that references/component-examples.md does not cover and would set precedent across the admin panel.
• A flow requires a destructive action without a safe undo or a clear consequence statement.
• Accessibility (contrast, focus order, reduced motion) and the requested aesthetic conflict.